This invention relates to the field of the thermoregulation of a room with radiant panels.
It is known that the comfort of man in a room derives to a large measure from heat transferred by radiation. Therefore, systems for the conditioning of a room have been developed aiming at thermal radiation, instead of at thermal convection. Through thermal radiation it is possible to carry out both the heating and the cooling of a room.
In the aforesaid systems the function of transferring heat to a room is performed by panel structures, i.e. radiant panels, especially wall radiant panels. An efficiency is associated with such radiant panels. The higher is the portion of heat which a radiant panel can transfer to a room by radiation, instead of by convection, and the quicker is the response of the radiant panel to the activation of a thermovector liquid source that feeds it, the higher is the efficiency of the radiant panel.
It is the general object of this invention to provide a system for the thermoregulation of a room with radiant panels, which turns out to be substantially more efficient and functional with respect to those of the state-of-the-art.
It is a particular object of this invention to provide a thermovector liquid radiant panel which is of an efficiency higher than those known at present, i.e. which is affected by a lesser withdrawal of the heat transferred by it to a room, due to the convective motions of air; which needs a lesser heating or cooling to bring a room to a given temperature, and which has a faster response to the switching-ON of the energy source that transfers heat to the thermovector liquid.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a radiant panel having a strong and elastic construction, and which is not noisy, especially in thermal transient conditions.
Such objects are reached by radiant panels made up by assembling discrete rectangular cross-section channel elements that entirely sweep the radiant surface of a panel. Such a characteristic gives the advantage of allowing to reach a very high efficiency. In fact, the so realized guiding of the thermovector liquid flow through rectangular cross-section channels allows to reduce turbulence in the thermovector liquid flowxe2x80x94and so to increase heat exchange therewithxe2x80x94as the rectangular cross-section is made thinner and thinner and so the thermovector liquid flow approaches to a blade flow.
The discrete channel elements are forced through gaskets in a top and a bottom manifold, without any welding. Such a characteristic allows each channel to undergo its own thermal expansion/contraction independently of the other ones, with the advantage that a radiant panel does not undergo deformations, especially in transient conditions. This also eliminates noise in the operation of the radiant panels.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a radiant panel which can be inserted in an interior of a room without determining an additional encumbrance.
Such an object is reached by equipping a radiant panel with frame means, lock means and hydraulic fitting hinge means. So the panel can also operate as a door, arranged in a door space. Moreover, a so arranged panel can thermoregulate two rooms seen from the same door.
A system for the thermoregulation of a room according to this invention is equipped with a thermostat including a case and a thermosensitive element having a cylindrical shape and being arranged on the case. By arranging the cylindrical thermosensitive element vertically, the best perception of radiant heat and the minimum influence from air convective motions are realized for the thermostat.
Another contemplated characteristic are a counter for counting the activation times of the source and a warning light, arranged on a panel, for signalling the ON/OFF state of the source, radiocontrolled from the source.
This characteristic allows one to intervene on malfunctions of the systemxe2x80x94which reduce the efficiency of the samexe2x80x94at once, when not a regular course of the switched-ON state of the same is detected.
Another characteristic envisaged by this invention is to provide a system for the thermoregulation of a room with a tank containing a liquid against carbonaceous deposits, shunted to the return piping of the system.
By this feature the efficiency of the system is again increased, because carbonaceous deposits and corrosion of the source are a critical efficiency reducing agent.
Gasketed quick fittings are provided for connecting the radiant panels to the delivery and the return piping.
By virtue of such feature the fittings are such that losses of thermovector liquid are prevented.
It is still a particular object of this invention to provide means for the mounting of the radiant panels onto a wall, in which means vibration is not excited during the operation of the system.
To this object a lower and an upper header-covering and templates are provided. The templates are to be hooked to a wall. The header-coverings have legs to be engaged with wings of the templates to support a panel onto the wall through the cooperation of blocklets.
Therefore it is the subject of this invention, in a system for the thermoregulation of a room, including a source for feeding a thermovector liquid; radiant panels wherein said thermovector liquid passes; pipings for delivering/returning thermovector liquid to/from said radiant panels; each radiant panel including a first manifold; a second manifold, and, between the first manifold and the second manifold, a radiant element which has two radiating front surfaces and a width from the one to the other radiating surface; an interior, and, in such interior, parallel contiguous rectilinear channels having a rectangular cross-section and entirely sweeping said radiating front surfaces with respective radiating sides, from the first to the second manifold; said channels being each one in liquid communication with said manifolds through respective ports provided in the manifolds;
the improvement wherein said manifolds have respective eccentric profiles endowed with respective slits, wherein said ports open, and said radiant element is built by inserting discrete channel elements, each one confining in an interior thereof one of said parallel contiguous rectilinear channels having a rectangular cross-section, into said slits by opposite extremities thereof, the channel elements being forced into the slits through gasket means and being arranged in a side-by-side relationship; and wherein said channels have the lesser side of the rectangular cross-section thereof in the direction of the width of the radiant panels.
It is envisaged that the panels are endowed with frame means fit for receiving a radiant panel in an interior thereof; the frame means and the radiant panels being endowed with respective complementary lock means and with hinge means for hinging a radiant panel on the frame means, the hinge means including hinged hydraulic fittings, and the frame means being endowed with hydraulic fitting means for a connection to a thermovector liquid feed circuit.
It is also envisaged that the system for the thermoregulation of a room further includes thermostat means to control the switching ON/OFF of said source, which thermostat means include a case and a cylindrical thermosensitive element arranged outside said case, upon it, the axis of symmetry of the thermosensitive element intended to be arranged in a vertical position in a mounting position of the thermostat means.
It is further envisaged that the system for the thermoregulation of a room further includes a radio transmitter and a counter for counting the times of activation of the source; and a radio receiver, and a warning light arranged on a radiant panel; the radio transmitter signalling the ON/OFF state of the source to the radio receiver and correspondingly determining the ON/OFF state of said warning light.
It is further envisaged that the system for the thermoregulation of a room further includes a tank for a liquid against carbonaceous deposits, which tank is shunted to the return piping, through two check-valves, a gate valve being mounted on the branch of return piping on which the shunt insists, to stop/reenable the flow of thermovector liquid.
It is further envisaged that in the system for the thermoregulation of a room, said radiant panels are connected to said delivery and return pipings through gasketed quick fittings.
It is envisaged that said radiant panels are equipped with lower and upper header-coverings, having such a length as to project beyond the sides of a panel when mounted on them; which header-coverings are endowed with respective upper and lower legs, and are equipped with templates that include a L-profile having a wing to be hooked to a wall and a support wing that has continuous parallel ridges fit for supportingly engaging said upper legs, and equipped with blocklets to be mounted between said support wing and said lower leg, receiving this one in a groove provided in the blocklets themselves.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the channel elements are made up of polycarbonate.